Makes sense to me. You just didn't register in WA in time. You should register now, though._________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

Joined: 04 Sep 2006Posts: 2014Location: North of the People's Republic of Massachusetts

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 12:56 am Post subject:

Congressional redistricting reform may become a new cause for the Democrats, what with the Republicans also having taken nearly 700 seats in various state legislatures. I'd rather they move towards less gerrymandering rather than more (Barney Frank's district is this gnarled claw reaching greedily towards Boston, for example), but my hopes aren't high.

Is this one of those get-out-the-conspiracy-before-the-story thing that neglects the reality of the required redistricting following a census? I hope not, 'cause that would just make you a silly billy!_________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

Joined: 04 Sep 2006Posts: 2014Location: North of the People's Republic of Massachusetts

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 2:15 pm Post subject:

Nope, just something I wouldn't be surprised to see. California just passed a ballot initiative to have redistricting done by an independent committee, stipulating that the districts should follow county lines as much as feasible. I personally like the idea (elected officials have too much say in choosing the people who elect them, IMO), but I wouldn't expect many Republicans to take up that cause considering the majorities they hold in many state legislatures now.

Speaking of our new friendly holders of the purse strings... someone remind me, they campaigned on the premise of reducing the deficit and improving the economy, right? Obama's a bastard because the debt is so high, and Bill the Bricklayer ain't got no job? I thought that was what I heard...

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders in Congress are preparing to take power in two months with ambitious and sometimes contradictory goals for economic and fiscal policies, leaving little common ground with President Obama and much uncertainty about the potential impact on the nation’s problems.

Republicans are standing by their campaign vows to slash spending for domestic programs immediately by at least one-fifth — $100 billion in a single year — even as many mainstream economists say such deep cuts could further strain the economy and should await its full recovery. Republicans also say they will try to deny money to put Mr. Obama’s new health care law into effect, though they have not made clear what they would do to make up the cost savings that would be lost if they succeeded in repealing the law.

In policy documents, including a blueprint this week from Representative Eric Cantor, the likely Republican majority leader in the new Congress, the party has made clear that its main proposals for creating jobs are to cut regulations and taxes — in particular to make the Bush-era tax cuts permanent for all incomes. Extending the tax cuts, however, would add nearly $4 trillion to the debt by 2020, and hundreds of billions more in interest owed for the additional government borrowing, greatly complicating another Republican goal: balancing the budget.

Wait, so which party is protecting the economy and reducing the deficit now? I'm confused..._________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

Don't you get it, Dogen? Obviously a free and unregulated market offers the best opportunity for saving money, therefore the only place left to help people keep more money is by cutting taxes! Because there's no way government could ever do something cheaper than the unfettered market, like healthcare. And if people keep more of their money instead of paying taxes, they'll buy more houses and cars and this whole economy mess the Liberals got us into will evaporate! Then people will have enough money to pay for their own healthcare too, since it's The Best Healthcare System in The World(tm).

This whole healthcare hubbub is a symptom, not a cause. Hard numbers, right out of CIA big book of numbers, shows infant mortality rate and death rate aren't the best in developed countries. Now, the best healthcare around comes (northern EU, France, Japan) with a price-tag attached. The whole system rely on a very different culture, something un-american. So trying to emulate one another didn't work out nor it ever will.

They wrote a piece about two month ago on why US shouldn't follow the same road EU did (no linky and not bothered enough to search). A very interesting read if you can get your hands on it.

Granted the Tea party looks like a reactionnary club, something close to BNP in UK, FN in France Vlaams Belang in Belgium or their kin. More than a few reports pictured them as a good thing all in all, as their likely policy will turn voters away from Reps.

I'm not so sure it'll be so, anyone got some linkies as to what their elected representatives are up to now?._________________Meu aerobarca esta cheoi de enguias

Congressional redistricting reform may become a new cause for the Democrats, what with the Republicans also having taken nearly 700 seats in various state legislatures. I'd rather they move towards less gerrymandering rather than more (Barney Frank's district is this gnarled claw reaching greedily towards Boston, for example), but my hopes aren't high.

The whole system rely on a very different culture, something un-american. So trying to emulate one another didn't work out nor it ever will.

Can you explain this? I've seen this argument before many times, but I still don't get it. Is selfishness inherent to America's culture? Or is it something else in their culture preventing them from using a similar system?

I mean, I get that it would certainly have to be adapted to fit the American context (huge population/areas, individual states, etc), but surely, the core of the system should work in the US, no? Or is that what you mean?_________________attitude of a street punk, only cutting selected words out of context to get onself excuse to let one's dirty mouth loose

The whole system rely on a very different culture, something un-american. So trying to emulate one another didn't work out nor it ever will.

Can you explain this? I've seen this argument before many times, but I still don't get it. Is selfishness inherent to America's culture? Or is it something else in their culture preventing them from using a similar system?

I mean, I get that it would certainly have to be adapted to fit the American context (huge population/areas, individual states, etc), but surely, the core of the system should work in the US, no? Or is that what you mean?

I should have wrote "different cultural qualities" above, selfishness wasn't what I had in mind at all, and isn't a quality in no parts of this world.

What I meant is the historical context is different. While, individually, helping the neighbour happens as often, if not more, in US; there is little or no history of social support during the industrial ages. Take writers, you won't find an equivalent of Dickens, Zola or even Karl Marx until the other side of the century (that's the tl:dr version of it). Class struggle was cut down early on and didn't left marks as it did in the old world. WWI didn't have the same effect at all in both place and on. To pick an analogy from linguistic, US and EU cultures are false-friends, acting similar but nonetheless different.

I picked Germany purposefully, as it's political system matches US the closest. And their view (Spiegel's view) of it was that, given the circumstances, what is by and large used in Europe won't fit in US. Basically saying that a system aiming at the same goals (basic affordable health) , but stemming from a different source/way of funding might be more appropriate than a tailored up cut/paste._________________Meu aerobarca esta cheoi de enguias